Selected quad for the lemma: saint_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
saint_n	intercession_n	mediator_n	redemption_n	1,722	5	9.9845	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A26796	The harmony of the divine attributes in the contrivance and accomplishment of man's redemption by the Lord Jesus Christ, or, Discourses wherein is shewed how the wisdom, mercy, justice, holiness, power, and truth of God are glorified in that great and blessed work / by William Bates.	Bates, William, 1625-1699.	1674 (1674)	Wing B1113; ESTC R25864	309,279	511

Blood of the slain Sacrifice So our Redeemer first performed what was necessary for the Expiation of Sin and then He past through the visible Heavens and ascended before the Throne of God to appear as our Advocate He made an oblation of Himself on the Earth before He could make intercession for us in Heaven which is the consummation of his Priestly Office The first was a proper Sacrifice the second is a commemoration of it Therefore He is said To appear before his Father by Sacrifice Besides what hath been discours'd of the order and dependance of these parts of his Priestly Office which proves that He had accomplisht the expiation of Sin before He was admitted into Heaven to intercede for us There are two other Considerations which manifest the compleatness of his Satisfaction 1. The manner of his Intercession 2. It s omnipotent Efficacy 1. The manner of it He doth not appear in the form of a Suppliant upon his Knees before the Throne offering up tears and strong cries as in the day of his flesh but He sits at Gods right hand making intercession for us He sollicits our Salvation not as a favour to him but as the price of his Sufferings and as due to his infinite Merit His Blood in the same manner pleads for our Pardon as the blood of righteous Abel call'd for vengeance against the Murderer Not by an articulate voice but by suing to Justice for a full recompence of it In short His Intercession is the continual representation of his most worthy Passion 2. The omnipotent Efficacy of his Intercession proves that God is fully satisfied He frees us from the greatest Evils and obtains for us the greatest Good in the quality of Mediator If any man sin we have an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the Righteous and he is the propitiation for our Sins and not for ours only but for the Sins of the whole world He disarms the Anger of God and hinders the effects of his Indignation against repenting Sinners Now the prevalency of his Mediation is grounded on the perfection of his Sacrifice The blessedness of Heaven is confer'd on Believers according to his Will Father I will that those whom thou hast given me be with me where I am to see my glory His request is effectual not only because He is Gods Son and in highest favour with Him but for his meritorious Sufferings 'T is for this reason that the Office of Mediator is incommunicable to any Creature There is one God and one Mediator between God and Man the Man Christ Jesus who gave himself a ransom for all The Apostle makes a Parallel between the unity of the Mediator and of the Deity which is most Sacred and inviolable For the right of Intercession as 't is an authoritative act is founded in Redemption they cannot be divided And we may observe by the way How the Popish Doctrine that erects as many Advocates as Angels or Saints or whoever are Canonised is guilty of Impiety and Folly Of Impiety In taking the Sovereign Crown from the Head of Christ to adorn others with it as if they had more credit with God or compassion for Men And of Folly In expecting benefits by their Intercession who have no satisfactory Merit to purchase them The numerous Advocates that are conceived by superstitious Persons in their Fancies are like the counterfeit Suns that are drawn in the Clouds by Reflexion as in a Glass which although they shine with a considerable brightness yet they are only Suns in appearance and derive no quickening Influences to the Earth The blessed Spirits above who enjoy a dependant Light from the Sun of Righteousness yet convey no Benefits to Men by Meritorious interceding for them We obtain Grace Glory only upon the requests of our Redeemer Briefly The acts of his Priest-hood respect the Attributes which in a special manner are to be glorified in our Salvation By his Death He made Satisfaction to Justice by his Intercession he sollicites Mercy And they both join together with the same readiness and warmth to dispense the Benefits which He purchased for his People Thirdly The Compleatness of his Satisfaction is fully proved by the glorious issue of his Sufferings This will be most evident by considering the connexion and dependance which his Glory hath upon his Humiliation And that is twofold 1. A dependance of Order His Abasement and Sufferings were to precede his Majesty and Power As in Nature things pass from a lower state to Perfection This Order was necessary For being originally in the form of God it was impossible he should be advanced if he did not voluntarily descend from his Glory that so he might be capable of exaltation He was first made a little lower than the Angels and after raised above them 2. A dependance of efficacy Glory is the reward of his Sufferings This is expresly declared by the Apostle Christ humbled himself and became obedient to the Death of the Cross wherefore God hath highly exalted him and given him a Name above every name that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow The mark of that homage that all creatures pay to him This exaltation is correspondent to the degrees of his abasement His Body was restored to Life and Immortality and ascended on a bright Cloud God's Chariot being attended with Angels and the everlasting Gates opened to receive the King of Glory He is set down at the right hand of the Throne of the Majesty in Heaven this signifies that Divine Dignity to which He is advanced next to his Father For God being an infinite Spirit hath neither right nor left hand in strict sense Our Redeemers Honour is the same and His Empire of the same extent with his Fathers Thus the Apostle interprets the words of the Psalmist that the Messiah should sit at the right hand of God till he made his Enemies his Footstool by reigning for he must reign till he hath put all his Enemies under his feet And Saint Peter tells us That the Father hath made him Lord and Christ That is by a Soveraign trust hath committed to him the Government of the Church and the World not devesting himself of his essential Dominion but exercising it by Christ. The height of this Dignity is emphatically set forth by the Apostle The Father hath seated him at his own right hand in the Heavenly places far above all Principalities and Powers and Might and Dominion which titles signify the several degrees of Glory among the Angels and every name that is named not only in this World but that which is to come that is hath given him a transcendent and incommunicable Glory the use of names being to signify the quality of Persons In short he is made the Head of the Church and Judge of the World Angels and Men shall stand before his Tribunal and receive their Eternal decision from him Now

all understanding Agents first propound an end and then choose the means for the obtaining of it And the more perfect the Understanding is the more excellent is the end it designs and the more fit and convenient are the means it makes use of for the acquiring it Now when God whose Understanding is infinite and in comparison of whom the most prudent and advised are but as dark shadows when he determines to work especially in a most glorious manner the end and the means are equally admirable First The end is of the highest Consequence Were it some low inconsiderable thing it were unworthy one thought of God for the effecting it To be curious in the contriving how to accomplish that which is of no importance exposes to a just imputation of Folly But when the most excellent Good is the end and the difficulties which hinder the obtaining of it are insuperable to a finite understanding it then becomes the only wise God to discover the Divinity of his Wisdom in making a way where he finds none And such was the end of God in the work of our Redemption This was declar'd by the Angels who were sent Ambassadors extraordinary to bring tidings of peace to the world They praised God saying Glory to God in the highest and on Earth Peace good Will towards men The supreme End is his own Glory and in order to it the Salvation of Man hath the nature and respect of a medium The subordinate is the Recovery of the world from its lapsed and wretched state 1. The supreme End is the Glory of God This signifies principally his internal and essential Glory and that consists in the Perfections of his Nature which can never be fully conceived by the Angels but overwhelm by their excellent greatness all created Understandings But the Glory that results from Gods works is properly intended in the present Argument and implies 2. The manifestation whereby he is pleased to represent Himself in the exercise of his Attributes As the Divine Nature is the primary and compleat Object of his Love so he takes delight in those Actions wherein the image and brightness of his own vertues appear Now in all the works of God there is an evidence of his Excellencies But as some Stars shine with a different glory so there are some noble effects wherein the Divine Attributes are so conspicuous that in compare with them the rest of God●s works are but obscure expressions of his Greatness The principal are Creation and Redemption The Heavens declare the glory of God and the Firmament his handy-work And when God surveyed the whole Creation and saw that all which he had made was good He ordain'd a Sabbath to signifie the content and satisfaction he had in the discovery of his eternal Perfections therein But especially his Glory is most resplendent in the Work of Redemption wherein more of the Divine Attributes are exercis●d than in the Creation and in a more glorious manner 'T is here that Wisdom Goodness Justice Holiness and Power are united in their highest degree and exaltation Upon this account the Apostle useth that expression The glorious Gospel of the Blessed God It being the clearest revelation of his excellent Attributes the unspotted mirrour wherein the great and wonderful effects of the Deity are set forth 3. The Praise and Thanksgiving that ariseth from the discovery of his Perfections by reasonable Creatures who consider and acknowledg them When there is a solemn veneration of his excellencies and the most ardent affections to Him for the communication of his goodness Thus in Gods account Whoso offers praise glorifies him An eminent example of this is set down in Job 38.7 when at the birth of the World The Morning Stars sang together and all the Sons of God shouted for joy And at its new Birth they descend and make his praise glorious in a triumphant Song It will be the eternal exercise of the Saints in Heaven where they more fully understand the Mystery of our Redemption and consider every circumstance that may adde a lustre to it to ascribe Blessing Honour Glory and Power to him that sits on the Throne and unto the Lamb for ever and ever Secondly The subordinate End is the restoring of Man And this is inviolably joyn'd with the other 'T is exprest by Peace on earth and good will towards men Sin had broke that sacred Alliance which was between God and Man and exposed him to his just displeasure A misery inconceivable And what is more becoming God who is the Father of Mercies than to glorifie his dear Attribute and that which in a peculiar manner characterises his Nature by the Salvation of the miserable What is more honourable to Him than by his Almighty Mercy to raise so many Monuments from the dust wherein his Goodness may live and reign for ever Now for the accomplishing of these excellent Ends the Divine Wisdom pitcht upon those means which were most fit and congruous which I shall distinctly consider The Misery of faln Man consisted in the Corruption of his nature by Sin and the Punishment that ensues And his Happiness is in the restoring him to his primitive Holiness and in Reconciliation to God and the full fruition of him The way to effect this was beyond the compass of any created Understanding That God who is rich in Goodness should be favourable to the Angels who serve him in perfect Purity we may easily conceive for although they do not merit his favour yet they never provokt his Anger And 't is impossible but that he should love the Image of his Holiness wherever it shines Or suppose an innocent creature in Misery the Divine Mercy would speedily excite his power to rescue it For God is Love to all his Creatures as such till some extrinsecal cause intervenes which God hates more than he loves the Creature and that is Sin which alone stops the effusion of his Goodness and opens a wide passage for wrath to fall upon the guilty But how to save the Creature that is undone by its own choice and is as sinful as miserable will pose the wisdom of the world Heaven it self seem'd to be divided Mercy enclin'd to save but Justice interpos'd for satisfaction Mercy regarded Man with respect to his misery and the pleas of it are Shall the Almighty build to ruine Shall the most excellent creature in the lower world perish the fault not being solely his Shall the enemy triumph for ever and raise his Trophies from the Works of the most High Shall the reasonable Creature lose the fruition of God and God the subjection and service of the Creature and all Mankind be made in vain Justice consider'd Man as guilty of a transcendent Crime and 't is its nature to render to every one what is due now the wages of Sin is Death and shall not the Judg of all the world do right All the the other